Dirt and dirty tricks

Sunday’s 75-mile climb from Crested Butte to Buena Vista is a familiar ride for me, having done the same trip a couple of years back. Its main feature is a long, 4,000-foot climb up to Cottonwood Pass, most of it taking place on dirt — a little challenging for skinny-tired types. And though I’ve done this route before, some things were a little different this time around.

Tacks: Evidently, we weren’t entirely welcome in the Crested Butte area, because someone decided to spread carpet tacks along Route 742, just north of Altmont.

[media-credit id=133 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]

Potty Pic: Snow formations loom over the rows of portajohns at the top of the pass

I hit one early, and my back tire blew; scores of other cyclists were soon sidelined along the next several miles, so whoever did the dumping decided to spread the wealth. By the time we all hobbled into the second aid station, the bike techs were handing out more than scores of spare tubes — and that’s just for the folks who didn’t carry their own.

The bright side: a couple of friends from a previous tour pulled off, replaced my tube and set me back on the road in about 5 minutes. Thank you to the wonderful Sandoval brothers, who turned a crummy incident into a sweet experience. As for the tack-tosser: Please, get yourself some anger management counseling. Or a nice hobby. Or maybe both.

[media-credit id=133 align=”alignleft” width=”200″][/media-credit]

Sign: Cyclists pose for the obligatory photo atop of Cottonwood Pass.

Dirt, and more dirt: If you’re not used to riding on unpaved roads, Sunday’s ride was probably a humbling experience. 16 miles of humbling, to be precise. And while the road crews had done wonders to clear a road that took the winter hard, there was lots of sand and pebbles that threw more than a couple of people off their bikes. But if you hung in there long enough, the view made up for the sketchy road surface: snow-capped mountains, 10-foot high drifts lining the roads, the smell of pine and wet soil… it was well worth the effort, even when the winds picked up near the top of Cottonwood Pass. At the end of the climb, we were greeted with paved roads, a party, and snow in odd places. You know I had to get the PortaJohns in somehow, didn’t you?

[media-credit id=120 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]

Bike snow: A wall of snow provided the backdrop for the top of the climb.

A scare: Injuries and illnesses aren’t unusual during Ride The Rockies. You put thousands of cyclists together for a week and things will happen, and when it does, the traveling rumor mill hops from aid station to aid station. We got word halfway up the pass that someone had fallen ill during the climb, and medics were on scene to deliver CPR. By the time we left the fourth aid station, police and volunteers cleared the roads so an ambulance could race through, siren and lights going. It’s a sobering thing to see, when you’re riding; I’ve had one friend killed in a biking accident, and several others injured. So the passing ambulance left a silence among all of us — especially when we came upon the same ambulance stopped in the middle of the road, lights off, and were told to walk our bikes past. The good news, delivered later that day by folks in the medic truck in Buena Vista, was that the cyclist had been resuscitated and was “doing great.” Great news, and wonderful job by the medics on site.

That blows: So it often happens that when you ride at altitude, you get a little plugged up, sinus-wise. I can understand that. Unfortunately, cyclists don’t like the break their pace and stop on the side of the road to blow their noses; they do the mobile version, which is plugging one side and blowing full-force out the other. Cycling etiquette dictates that when you do this, you take a look behind and see if anyone’s in the line of fire BEFORE you let it rip. Unfortunately, I was behind someone who forgot that first step. And let me tell you, nothing’s worse than getting a face-full of nasty at 35 miles an hour. Now, to be fair, she DID apologize, over and over again; but that doesn’t help when you’re still 10 miles from the nearest aid-station faucet, does it?

Tomorrow: another 75 miles, from Buena Vista to Edwards. All on paved roads!

As a CB resident may I be the first to apologize for the idiots who decided to try and ruin your ride. Unfortunately we have some rather bizarre and less then intelligent folks living here. They pulled the same crap last year at the Fat Tire Week Chainless race.

jwb, no need to apologize for them — we have our own versions in Boulder, throwing tacks down before the triathlons and road races. They’re everywhere; thankfully, the good people far outnumber the brainless ones. We had a blast in Crested Butte!

In 2012, I asked a former colleague whether he was interested in running the Chicago Marathon. Two weeks later, he asked if I was interested in Ride the Rockies. I got a road bike, got on the tour, and have yet to regret it. This will be my third RTR.

Daniel Petty is the digital director of sports for The Denver Post. He competed in track and cross country all four years inc college, but that was six years ago. Now, he's doing Ride the Rockies for the first time.